The Actual Cafe in Oakland, California proudly opened an extension of their space last Wednesday into a parking space, creating a parklet for customers. Later that evening, someone stole the whole thing.

Seattle is growing more dense, which is underlining the importance of the city's public spaces. But as this piece from <em>Crosscut</em> argues, the city's public spaces are mostly bleak and underused.

Robert Campbell keeps hoping that the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway (the park built over the Big Dig site) will attract visitors. But even as it gets more beautiful, it still fails in terms of usage.